“A Land Dragon!”

“Run for your lives!”

A score of voices competed with each other for the honor of seeing just who was the most hysterical as their owners attempted to make as much space between themselves and the giant monster as possible.

Some were already at the exit tunnel at the bottom of the stands when Graves’ voice boomed.

“Halt! Take another step towards the exit and I will fail you on the spot and place your name on the Blacklist.”

Hilarity ensued after his pronouncement as several fleeing figures stopped mid-pace while sprinting at considerable speed. Most ended up tripping at various degrees of severity, the worst three collided with each other and got their armor tangled together.

“Look at the lot of you!” the professor continued to castigate from his position to the side of the fearsome beast. “Not a single one of you took the time to perform even the most rudimentary arcane inspection before you fled with your manhood tucked between your legs. Behold!”

Graves marched up to the beast that was doing it’s best to snap and snarl at him and socked it right in the snout. It was a good punch too, Jack noted. He hadn’t run screaming from the fray as others had. Instead, he backed up with Virtus away from the doorway to avoid being trampled, which in his mind was a much more dire possibility. The reason for his confidence was the small grin that had slipped over the corner of his bodyguard's lips a moment prior to the big reveal. As such, it only made sense for this to be an elaborate hazing, the experience while a bit overbearing was nonetheless enjoyable.

“This is a trick!” someone called out from the crowd.

“Did he just punch a...a Land Dragon in the face?” another exclaimed.

The beast was now crouched with its forelegs protecting its snout, much like a feline after a sideswipe from a rival. The position looked absolutely ridiculous when performed by a giant, lizard, monster...thing.

“Is this beast the beast you were all so afraid of? It does seem very intimidating—this huge, ferocious, carnivorous beast.” He held a hand to his chest in mock panic. “Say, maybe I should flee as well. I might be eaten if I stay here.”

Both Jack and Virtus smirked at the professor's little display. Such things are much funnier when they are happening to someone else. It seemed that not everyone was amused by the show as one stepped out from the cluster near the exit to object.

“Professor, you brought out a Land Dragon, a beast far above our level, without so much as a word. How are we supposed to respond to facing a top-tier carnivore when we don’t even have real weapons and armor?”

Graves burst out in a deep chuckle. It grew more intense every time he looked up to see the confused look on his students' faces. Finally, when he ran out of breath and was holding his side tenderly, he made eye contact with his accuser.

“Above your level, this thing? Has a single one of you numbskulls had the notion that maybe, just maybe, things are not quite as they appear to the naked eye?”

In response, the color of several students changed as an incandescent glow emanated from their irises. Red, blue, brown, and green were the most common colors, but there were some more exotic colors like Virtus’ silver and another student's indigo eyes.

“What...what is that?” The newly made, and totally official, representative of the class asked in abject disbelief. His jaw hung to the side in an unflattering manner.

“Does anyone here know what this creature is? Anyone?” Graves called out, ignoring the representative.

“Is it a Gremlin?”

“No, Gremlins are green and bipedal, next!”

“Is it a Bogart?”

“Bogarts are true shapeshifters, not illusionists, good guess. Next!”

“Is that a Jann?”

“We have a winner! Yes, class meet my personal Jann, Mira. She acts like my personal assistant and will be charged with keeping an eye on you as you train. Mira, drop the illusion.”

The Land Dragon dissipated in a puff of dust; when it dissipated, a small red fox sat in the place where the dragon's mighty head lay seconds before. It examined the stands lazily, its eyes drifting back and forth. Jack noted that while it was making a showing of its disinterest, it clocked his position with every passing sweep.

“Now that the fun part is over. Which one of you would like to volunteer to be the first to test their mettle in combat?” Graves asked.

…

As a child, Jack scoffed at fantastical stories where small teenagers fought toe to toe with giant monsters. Stories where the adults disappeared mysteriously except for some unrealistic super villain that couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag. Who in their right minds would believe that a 30kg child could take on something like that? He had been dead wrong.

One by one, his classmates voluntarily stepped into the arena to face off with monsters straight out of mythology; orcs, harpies, giant animals, and more fell at the hand, or spell, of people that couldn’t even legally buy alcohol. Did they expect him to fight as well? If so, maybe he needed to assess just how much stock he put into what these people were telling him, because that was crazy. He wasn’t a gladiator or some great hero. He was...something.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. “Jack, it is almost your turn. Let us go down to the preparation chamber to gear up.”

“Gear up?”

“Of course. Did you think that we were going to send you into the arena without protection? This is a training course, not the battlefield. The practice armor the students wear is heavily enchanted for protection and the beasts you face have been defanged for your protection. This way!”

...

Some people, Jack noted, have way too much free time. Piece by piece, the academy armorer, a journeyman student in his twenties with a face like a pug, explained the name, purpose, and several fun facts about each piece of armor as he attached them to Jack’s person with an uncomfortable amount of intensity. That guy really needed a hobby that didn’t involve strapping leather onto other men. The process took about twenty minutes since he couldn’t stop squirming. The class had actually ended a few minutes ago but Graves had made an exception and extended the lesson just so that he could be thrown into the pit with a man-eating monster, yay.

The leather armor was simple by comparison to the other sets that he had seen others wearing. A simple arming coat served as the first layer. From there magically hardened leather plates were strategically attached to several key locations as well as bracers, greaves, and gaiters. At least no one tried to stuff him into a full set of lorica. He already felt like a Beatle.

“Are you ready?” Virtus asked him when the armorer pronounced his gear acceptable.

“I don’t think that I will ever be ready for something like this.”

Virtus chuckled. “No one ever is, Jack. That is why we train. Since you have next to no experience, you will be facing a beast that is more nuisance than a threat. You do not need to slay the beast, only best it. Follow me!” He opened a door, the one that led towards the arena.

“What if I don’t think that I can do it?” Jack confessed. He had been following along with the script so far but it was time to come clean.

“None sense! You have on multiple occasions taken action to eliminate targets you deemed harmful without so much as a by your leave. That level of ruthless pragmatism is one of your core traits, such things only become stronger when placed in opposition. I pity the beast that professor Graves chooses to test you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so! You will prevail, I have no doubt in the matter. Are you ready?”

“I need a weapon.”

“I have your sword and shield right here.” He manifested the sword and shield combo that had made such a profound impact on his perspective. With much trepidation, Jack reached out for the blackened leather handle. Just before he touched, some primal instinct started jumping around in the back of his mind and making a ruckus. His hand fell back to his side as he turned his attention to what had disturbed him. His mental eye turned inward as he searched for the source of his unease.

Fear!

There it was front and center stage. He was afraid of stepping into that ring with a man-eating monster...on purpose. No amount of weaponry, armor, magic, or any other protective measure could change the fact that this test was an inherently risky situation. Thus, Jack was forced to make the decision he had been avoiding for the better part of the afternoon, should he proceed with this farce? Walking away was tempting. Just a few days ago he had been a normal young punk that couldn’t even buy cigarettes. His two days of practice sword fighting and one fuel-inefficient combat spell were not enough to prepare him.

In the end, it was the memory of his trial to master the Night Shroud that made his decision. The blade had promised to guide his hand and empower him in return for his devotion to their common cause. Protect! How could he protect anything if he did not develop his personal power?

In a jerky motion, Jack seized both blade and buckle before he could change his mind. Contact with the set sent a trickle of coolness down his limbs and into his tense muscles, which had compounded since the first encounter with the illusory Land Dragon. He was ready.

“Take me to the ring!” he commanded Virtus.

“Are you certain?” the guardsman asked. “You have the option to avoid engagement until a later date.”

“I am ready.”

...

The gates rose with the clink of metal chains jangling to the side. It was actually a surprisingly overwhelming sound when one was only a few feet away. Jack stood opposite the winch for as long as it took for him to fit through the opening. As soon as the gate reached his hip, he ducked under the spiked gate. Not his brightest idea in hindsight. He remembered seeing someone severed by those in a movie once, but what's done is done.

The arena was empty of anything particularly monstrous, just a big sandbox. That didn’t lower his trepidation the slightest as he stood at attention in a pose Virtus had shown him. What if the creature was invisible? What if it burrowed under him and lurked in wait, ready to strike the moment he dropped his guard?

“Hey, Egghead, ” Graves bellowed from the stands, “cool your heels! The beast is not even out yet. Almighty save us from fools.” He finished in a much quieter tone. He made eye contact with someone out of Jack’s sight and made a slicing gesture across his neck. In response, another gate rose up opposite of the one he had entered from. Well, Jack mused to himself, that wasn’t ominous.

The gate rose when more sluggish than his had and squeaked like a chipmunk with a can of helium. Maybe the noise will scare the monster off and everybody can all go home, he mused whistfully. That hope was dashed when furry paw emerged from the doorway. Then like a speeding arrow, the owner of said paw burst out of the underground tunnel. It stopped ten meters in to take in it's environment. It was a common black rat of the same breed he had encountered several times on the streets. Only, this one was two meters long and had a whip-like tail. In the space of a breath the giant rat finished it’s scan and zeroed in on the only threat in the immediate area, him.

It leaped the distance between them with much more grace than one would expect in a giant rodent and sideswiped him with it’s claw on his leather chest padding. The claws stuck in just far enough to draw a bead of blood before they were repelled in a flash of light by said armor. It was too late for the attack had the effect of knocking Jack over. Quickly, he managed to keep his sword from impaling him as he rolled to avoid the follow up pounce that would have finished the fight.

He managed to get to one knee and swing the gladius in time to abort a sweep of it’s tail. Kerthunk, the blade bit into the space between tail segments. Dark blood splattered the ground as the beast squealed in agony. Jack was so excited by his initial success that he subconsciously loosened his grip on the blade and promptly lost it when the tail swept back the other direction.

“Well, that isn’t good.”

The rat swept it’s paw at his supporting arm, successfully bowling him over and making a five-centimeter gash on his forearm. That was when Jack discovered one of the hidden traits of his new blood. Any flesh that it landed on started smoking and any sand that came in contact turned into glass. The sight reminded Jack that he could use magic now.

The large rat retreated in fear of the burning liquid that flowed freely from his wound and nursed its paw. That proved to be a lifesaver as Jack retook his feet and started to cast his only combat spell, but not before flinging some of his blood at the beast in spite. His nerves were strained as he tried his best to cast the spell as quickly as possible as well as keep an eye on his opponent, more difficult than he expected.

Just before the spell finished, the rat tossed caution to the wind and lunged at him. With a turn of his wrist, the spell coalesced into a small flaming ball, which Jack willed forward, right into it's open maw.